Science News Roundup: Bezos' Blue Origin suffers rocket failure during uncrewed mission; NASA's science chief Zurbuchen to step down by year's end

The Swiss-American astrophysicist has served as head of NASA's science mission directorate since 2016, shepherding the agency's roughly 100 such missions.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Bezos' Blue Origin suffers rocket failure during uncrewed mission

A rocket from Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin failed mid-flight shortly after liftoff on Monday, aborting its cargo capsule to safety before crashing into the Texas desert, according to the company and a live video stream of the mission.

Without any humans on board, the rocket lifted off from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site Monday morning as the company's 23rd New Shepard mission, aiming to send NASA-funded experiments and other payloads to the edge of space to float for a few minutes in microgravity.

NASA's science chief Zurbuchen to step down by year's end

Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's science chief who oversaw some of the U.S. space agency's ambitious endeavors including the successful deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope and Perseverance Mars rover, is set to step down at the end of the year. The Swiss-American astrophysicist has served as head of NASA's science mission directorate since 2016, shepherding the agency's roughly 100 such missions. He announced his planned departure in a memo sent to NASA employees on Tuesday.